Monday, 20 June 2011

I'm just back from Melbourne, my prime motivation for being there to visit the Tutankhamun exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. You see I'm an Ancient Egypt tragic so this was one exhibition I wasn't going to miss. And what an extraordinary experience it was - to be able to stand before beautiful, priceless artifacts that are well over 3,000 years old!

In the weeks leading up to my visit a friend offered to lend me a children's novel set in Ancient Egypt and naturally I jumped at the chance. The Golden Goblet was written by American Eloise Jarvis McGraw back in 1964 and it is definitely a classic. Eloise's research was meticulous and her descriptive narrative had me completely immersed in the atmosphere and culture of that incredible era, right from page one. So enthralled was I that I have ordered my own copy and a copy of her 1953 book Mara, Daughter of the Nile, which I can't wait to read.

Of course we have our very own Aussie children's author who specialises in ancient civilisations. Geoffrey McSkimming has travelled all over the world to research his wonderfully entertaining series which features 'that well-known archaeologist and little-known poet' Cairo Jim. Books from the series have been translated into many languages and are sold all over the world. How could you not pick up a book entitled Cairo Jim and the Secret Sepulchre of the Sphinx or Cairo Jim and the Rorting of Ramses' Regalia or even Cairo Jim and the Sunken Sarcophagus? I've just finished reading Cairo Jim Amidst the Petticoats of Artemis, yet another rollicking adventure that had me grinning from start to finish.

But for those of us who like something a little more contemporary, I did read Caroline Graham'sMurder at Madingley Grange from my Kindle at every opportunity whilst travelling to, from and around Melbourne. Here is an author who just has a way with characters, who gives them such personality, such vibrancy that by the end of her books I feel as if I've actually met them.

Monday, 13 June 2011

When I’m travelling, I like to read something ‘escapist’; something I wouldn’t cry about if lost en route.

So, I took my copy of Nineteen Minutes with me recently to Cairns, Brisbane and Melbourne – don’t get the envies, I was travelling for work; though I did enjoy the warm weather at the beginning; Brisbane was really cold!

The novel, which echoes the Columbine High School ‘massacre’ in 1999, employs Picoult’s trademark, successful formula:

Highlight an issue – access to guns and the impact of bullying

Set the scene for a debate

Introduce a set of characters who are likeable, but flawed

Canvas their relationships and tensions

Build to a courtroom drama finale

Why then, didn’t this title work for me?

Maybe the issue – of a teen high school killer who wipes out ten kids and wounds 16 more – did not have enough shades of grey. However bullied he might have been (and he was), nothing in the plot or characterisation quite justifies the slaughter he perpetrates.

Is it feasible that the judge and the midwife become firm friends and then, without further discussion, fall out over the issue of family gun policy? Is it stretching probability that the prosecuting detective ends up in bed with said judge?

Maybe the inevitable Picoult-style sting in the tail – when it turns out that more than one person had their hand on the trigger – is insufficiently explained?

So, does this mean I didn’t enjoy the book? No, engagement and detachment are two sides of the literary coin and experienced readers slip in and out of total absorption and critique quite comfortably; that’s the trick we want younger readers to acquire.

I might try something with a bit more weight next though, so I can linger in the engrossed phase longer.

When I’m travelling, I like to read something ‘escapist’; something I wouldn’t cry about if lost en route.

So, I took my copy of Nineteen Minutes with me recently to Cairns, Brisbane and Melbourne – don’t get the envies, I was travelling for work; though I did enjoy the warm weather at the beginning; Brisbane was really cold!

The novel, which echoes the Columbine High School ‘massacre’ in 1999, employs Picoult’s trademark, successful formula:

Highlight an issue – access to guns and the impact of bullying

Set the scene for a debate

Introduce a set of characters who are likeable, but flawed

Canvas their relationships and tensions

Build to a courtroom drama finale

Why then, didn’t this title work for me?

Maybe the issue – of a teen high school killer who wipes out ten kids and wounds 16 more – did not have enough shades of grey. However bullied he might have been (and he was), nothing in the plot or characterisation quite justifies the slaughter he perpetrates.

Is it feasible that the judge and the midwife become firm friends and then, without further discussion, fall out over the issue of family gun policy? Is it stretching probability that the prosecuting detective ends up in bed with said judge?

Maybe the inevitable Picoult-style sting in the tail – when it turns out that more than one person had their hand on the trigger – is insufficiently explained?

So, does this mean I didn’t enjoy the book? No, engagement and detachment are two sides of the literary coin and experienced readers slip in and out of total absorption and critique quite comfortably; that’s the trick we want younger readers to acquire.

I might try something with a bit more weight next though, so I can linger in the engrossed phase longer.

Monday, 6 June 2011

What can be better than spending time chatting with people about books? Well if those people are as book crazy as you are then there is twice the pleasure. My mission for the next three months or more is to visit every group of parents, teachers, librarians, grandparents, aunts and uncles I can find and talk with them about tips for choosing books that will inspire, interest and certainly keep kids reading.

With the launch of this much applauded little booklet, I have been inundated with emails and phone calls from people wanting me to visit their playgroups, schools and P&F meetings. So far I have requests stretching from Yolla in the far North West to Dover and Tasman Peninsula in the South with just about everywhere else in between. Thank goodness it’s the school holidays and I have a little respite before business resumes in earnest.

My first visit was to Gagebrook Primary school where I found a library which already has many of our recommended books on its shelves and a small group of parents fairly jumping out of their skins to talk, look at and understand the characteristics of a good kid’s book. I hope all my contacts are as positive and enjoyable as this one.

I have also been to a Family Day at the Dover Street Community House in Launceston’s Northern Suburbs where Neighbourhood House employees, parents and local teachers and carers had a great time browsing through a selection of our recommended books. What a scream to witness an enthusiastic adult reading aloud with lots of expression from Nick Bland’s The Wrong Book to an equally enthusiastic group of fellow workers ‘on the mat’. Yes, my mission is ultimately to get these adults reading to kids but first they have to be inspired by the material. And they were!

My next assignment is at Norwood primary where I am talking with a group of parents of pre- school children. The variety of groups is challenging because different aspects of a book have more or less significance according to the age of the readers upon whom we are focusing. Well if nothing else my sessions won’t be repetitious or over rehearsed because each one will be unique.

Fitting all these visits into a schedule that doesn’t involved driving up and down the highways of Tasmania is going to be tricky but if we can help people understand the facets of a book that make it more attractive, or more suitable to a particular level, age group or type of child reader it will be worth it.

I am also trying to work into this time table some discussions with people who might be interested in serving as CBCA reading judges. It is a surprisingly complex task to read and assess 400 samples of children’s literature spanning from 0 to 18 years of age. Most people will have expertise in some but not all of the skills areas involved. For example when I was a judge I was fairly confident about Younger and Older readers but relatively uneducated about Early Childhood and Picture Books compared to some of the other judges. And then there’s the different forms of writing I discovered during the process. I don’t mean the author’s styles but the different types of writing I had to do. Writing up my first impressions of a book was quite different to writing the annotated notes which have to be written for every book that shows potential shortlist possibilities. That is different again to the writing style for the blurbs about the winners, honour books and notables that eventually are published in the official CBCA booklets each year.

But that is the great aspect of the position. One learns so much and grows tremendously as an informed reader over the period of office. It is one of the most interesting, beneficial and rewarding jobs I have ever experienced despite the huge time commitment and the stress of deadlines and decision making. Not to mention the several hundred or so new books to which I was introduced and which now reside on my friends’, my grandson’s and my own book shelf.

I am also accumulated a fascinating collection of Peter Rabbit publications which serve to illustrate some of the fundamental points about what to look for when choosing an appropriate book for children. If you want to know how Peter Rabbit can do this then you will just have to organize a group of interested people or friends and contact me on carol.fuller@bigpond.com to come and have a discussion about kid’s books. Looking forward to meeting you.
Cheers
CAF

It's funny thinking that, only three years after this book was written, reality TV has kind of fizzled out. Apart from cooking shows (and, to a lesser extent, talent-search shows, which seem to be fading slowly away, too), nobody seems to want to watch people just being their boring selves any more. This doesn't diminish my eagerness to read this novel. I read the first couple of pages before I bought it and laughed so hard I snorted. In the middle of a very quiet book shop. Embarrassing, but a good sign for a thoroughly enjoyable booky experience!

And, if the weather continues to be so gosh-darn repulsive, an enjoyable book experience (and many cups of tea), might be just about the highlight of this grey weekend!

What will you be reading as the rain buckets down and the wind threatens to tear your roof off? Or, if it's sunny where you are, well, I dislike you strongly and wish to throw things at you, but I still want to hear what you're reading!

About Me

The Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a volunteer run, not for profit, organisation that was established in 1945 and is comprised of branches of individual members who are passionate about children's and young adult literature. This is the blog of their Tasmanian branch.